annotate man/mule.texi @ 64161:7a1f1f26a00f

Update Emacs version.
author Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
date Fri, 08 Jul 2005 02:23:43 +0000
parents fcef9d2256d2
children c95935532bad fbb2bea03df9
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1 @c This is part of the Emacs manual.
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2 @c Copyright (C) 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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3 @c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
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4 @node International, Major Modes, Frames, Top
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5 @chapter International Character Set Support
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6 @cindex MULE
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7 @cindex international scripts
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8 @cindex multibyte characters
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9 @cindex encoding of characters
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10
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11 @cindex Celtic
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12 @cindex Chinese
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13 @cindex Cyrillic
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14 @cindex Czech
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15 @cindex Devanagari
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16 @cindex Hindi
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17 @cindex Marathi
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18 @cindex Ethiopic
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19 @cindex German
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20 @cindex Greek
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21 @cindex Hebrew
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22 @cindex IPA
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23 @cindex Japanese
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24 @cindex Korean
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25 @cindex Lao
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26 @cindex Latin
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27 @cindex Polish
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28 @cindex Romanian
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29 @cindex Slovak
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30 @cindex Slovenian
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31 @cindex Thai
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32 @cindex Tibetan
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33 @cindex Turkish
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34 @cindex Vietnamese
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35 @cindex Dutch
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36 @cindex Spanish
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37 Emacs supports a wide variety of international character sets,
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38 including European and Vietnamese variants of the Latin alphabet, as
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39 well as Cyrillic, Devanagari (for Hindi and Marathi), Ethiopic, Greek,
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40 Han (for Chinese and Japanese), Hangul (for Korean), Hebrew, IPA,
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41 Kannada, Lao, Malayalam, Tamil, Thai, Tibetan, and Vietnamese scripts.
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42 These features have been merged from the modified version of Emacs
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43 known as MULE (for ``MULti-lingual Enhancement to GNU Emacs'')
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44
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45 Emacs also supports various encodings of these characters used by
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46 other internationalized software, such as word processors and mailers.
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47
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48 Emacs allows editing text with international characters by supporting
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49 all the related activities:
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50
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51 @itemize @bullet
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52 @item
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53 You can visit files with non-@acronym{ASCII} characters, save non-@acronym{ASCII} text, and
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54 pass non-@acronym{ASCII} text between Emacs and programs it invokes (such as
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55 compilers, spell-checkers, and mailers). Setting your language
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56 environment (@pxref{Language Environments}) takes care of setting up the
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57 coding systems and other options for a specific language or culture.
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58 Alternatively, you can specify how Emacs should encode or decode text
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59 for each command; see @ref{Specify Coding}.
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60
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61 @item
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62 You can display non-@acronym{ASCII} characters encoded by the various scripts.
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63 This works by using appropriate fonts on X and similar graphics
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64 displays (@pxref{Defining Fontsets}), and by sending special codes to
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65 text-only displays (@pxref{Specify Coding}). If some characters are
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66 displayed incorrectly, refer to @ref{Undisplayable Characters}, which
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67 describes possible problems and explains how to solve them.
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68
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69 @item
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70 You can insert non-@acronym{ASCII} characters or search for them. To do that,
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71 you can specify an input method (@pxref{Select Input Method}) suitable
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72 for your language, or use the default input method set up when you set
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73 your language environment. If
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74 your keyboard can produce non-@acronym{ASCII} characters, you can select an
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75 appropriate keyboard coding system (@pxref{Specify Coding}), and Emacs
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76 will accept those characters. Latin-1 characters can also be input by
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77 using the @kbd{C-x 8} prefix, see @ref{Single-Byte Character Support,
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78 C-x 8}. On X Window systems, your locale should be set to an
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79 appropriate value to make sure Emacs interprets keyboard input
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80 correctly; see @ref{Language Environments, locales}.
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81 @end itemize
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82
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83 The rest of this chapter describes these issues in detail.
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84
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85 @menu
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86 * International Chars:: Basic concepts of multibyte characters.
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87 * Enabling Multibyte:: Controlling whether to use multibyte characters.
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88 * Language Environments:: Setting things up for the language you use.
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89 * Input Methods:: Entering text characters not on your keyboard.
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90 * Select Input Method:: Specifying your choice of input methods.
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91 * Multibyte Conversion:: How single-byte characters convert to multibyte.
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92 * Coding Systems:: Character set conversion when you read and
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93 write files, and so on.
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94 * Recognize Coding:: How Emacs figures out which conversion to use.
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95 * Specify Coding:: Various ways to choose which conversion to use.
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96 * Fontsets:: Fontsets are collections of fonts
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97 that cover the whole spectrum of characters.
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98 * Defining Fontsets:: Defining a new fontset.
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99 * Undisplayable Characters:: When characters don't display.
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100 * Single-Byte Character Support:: You can pick one European character set
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101 to use without multibyte characters.
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102 * Charsets:: How Emacs groups its internal character codes.
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103 @end menu
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104
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105 @node International Chars
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106 @section Introduction to International Character Sets
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107
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108 The users of international character sets and scripts have established
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109 many more-or-less standard coding systems for storing files. Emacs
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110 internally uses a single multibyte character encoding, so that it can
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111 intermix characters from all these scripts in a single buffer or string.
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112 This encoding represents each non-@acronym{ASCII} character as a sequence of bytes
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113 in the range 0200 through 0377. Emacs translates between the multibyte
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114 character encoding and various other coding systems when reading and
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115 writing files, when exchanging data with subprocesses, and (in some
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116 cases) in the @kbd{C-q} command (@pxref{Multibyte Conversion}).
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117
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118 @kindex C-h h
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119 @findex view-hello-file
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120 @cindex undisplayable characters
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121 @cindex @samp{?} in display
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122 The command @kbd{C-h h} (@code{view-hello-file}) displays the file
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123 @file{etc/HELLO}, which shows how to say ``hello'' in many languages.
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124 This illustrates various scripts. If some characters can't be
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125 displayed on your terminal, they appear as @samp{?} or as hollow boxes
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126 (@pxref{Undisplayable Characters}).
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127
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128 Keyboards, even in the countries where these character sets are used,
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129 generally don't have keys for all the characters in them. So Emacs
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130 supports various @dfn{input methods}, typically one for each script or
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131 language, to make it convenient to type them.
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132
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133 @kindex C-x RET
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134 The prefix key @kbd{C-x @key{RET}} is used for commands that pertain
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135 to multibyte characters, coding systems, and input methods.
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136
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137 @node Enabling Multibyte
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138 @section Enabling Multibyte Characters
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139
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140 @cindex turn multibyte support on or off
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141 You can enable or disable multibyte character support, either for
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142 Emacs as a whole, or for a single buffer. When multibyte characters are
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143 disabled in a buffer, then each byte in that buffer represents a
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144 character, even codes 0200 through 0377. The old features for
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145 supporting the European character sets, ISO Latin-1 and ISO Latin-2,
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146 work as they did in Emacs 19 and also work for the other ISO 8859
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147 character sets.
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148
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149 However, there is no need to turn off multibyte character support to
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150 use ISO Latin; the Emacs multibyte character set includes all the
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151 characters in these character sets, and Emacs can translate
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152 automatically to and from the ISO codes.
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153
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154 By default, Emacs starts in multibyte mode, because that allows you to
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155 use all the supported languages and scripts without limitations.
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156
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157 To edit a particular file in unibyte representation, visit it using
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158 @code{find-file-literally}. @xref{Visiting}. To convert a buffer in
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159 multibyte representation into a single-byte representation of the same
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160 characters, the easiest way is to save the contents in a file, kill the
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161 buffer, and find the file again with @code{find-file-literally}. You
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162 can also use @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c}
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163 (@code{universal-coding-system-argument}) and specify @samp{raw-text} as
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164 the coding system with which to find or save a file. @xref{Specify
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165 Coding}. Finding a file as @samp{raw-text} doesn't disable format
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166 conversion, uncompression and auto mode selection as
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167 @code{find-file-literally} does.
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168
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169 @vindex enable-multibyte-characters
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170 @vindex default-enable-multibyte-characters
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171 To turn off multibyte character support by default, start Emacs with
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172 the @samp{--unibyte} option (@pxref{Initial Options}), or set the
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173 environment variable @env{EMACS_UNIBYTE}. You can also customize
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174 @code{enable-multibyte-characters} or, equivalently, directly set the
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175 variable @code{default-enable-multibyte-characters} to @code{nil} in
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176 your init file to have basically the same effect as @samp{--unibyte}.
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177
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178 @findex toggle-enable-multibyte-characters
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179 To convert a unibyte session to a multibyte session, set
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180 @code{default-enable-multibyte-characters} to @code{t}. Buffers which
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181 were created in the unibyte session before you turn on multibyte support
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182 will stay unibyte. You can turn on multibyte support in a specific
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183 buffer by invoking the command @code{toggle-enable-multibyte-characters}
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184 in that buffer.
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185
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186 @cindex Lisp files, and multibyte operation
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187 @cindex multibyte operation, and Lisp files
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188 @cindex unibyte operation, and Lisp files
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189 @cindex init file, and non-@acronym{ASCII} characters
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190 @cindex environment variables, and non-@acronym{ASCII} characters
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191 With @samp{--unibyte}, multibyte strings are not created during
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192 initialization from the values of environment variables,
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193 @file{/etc/passwd} entries etc.@: that contain non-@acronym{ASCII} 8-bit
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194 characters.
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195
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196 Emacs normally loads Lisp files as multibyte, regardless of whether
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197 you used @samp{--unibyte}. This includes the Emacs initialization file,
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198 @file{.emacs}, and the initialization files of Emacs packages such as
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199 Gnus. However, you can specify unibyte loading for a particular Lisp
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200 file, by putting @w{@samp{-*-unibyte: t;-*-}} in a comment on the first
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201 line (@pxref{File Variables}). Then that file is always loaded as
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202 unibyte text, even if you did not start Emacs with @samp{--unibyte}.
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203 The motivation for these conventions is that it is more reliable to
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204 always load any particular Lisp file in the same way. However, you can
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205 load a Lisp file as unibyte, on any one occasion, by typing @kbd{C-x
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206 @key{RET} c raw-text @key{RET}} immediately before loading it.
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207
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208 The mode line indicates whether multibyte character support is enabled
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209 in the current buffer. If it is, there are two or more characters (most
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210 often two dashes) before the colon near the beginning of the mode line.
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211 When multibyte characters are not enabled, just one dash precedes the
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212 colon.
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213
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214 @node Language Environments
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215 @section Language Environments
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216 @cindex language environments
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217
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218 All supported character sets are supported in Emacs buffers whenever
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219 multibyte characters are enabled; there is no need to select a
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220 particular language in order to display its characters in an Emacs
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221 buffer. However, it is important to select a @dfn{language environment}
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222 in order to set various defaults. The language environment really
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223 represents a choice of preferred script (more or less) rather than a
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224 choice of language.
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225
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226 The language environment controls which coding systems to recognize
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227 when reading text (@pxref{Recognize Coding}). This applies to files,
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228 incoming mail, netnews, and any other text you read into Emacs. It may
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229 also specify the default coding system to use when you create a file.
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230 Each language environment also specifies a default input method.
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231
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232 @findex set-language-environment
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233 @vindex current-language-environment
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234 To select a language environment, you can customize the variable
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235 @code{current-language-environment} or use the command @kbd{M-x
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236 set-language-environment}. It makes no difference which buffer is
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237 current when you use this command, because the effects apply globally to
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238 the Emacs session. The supported language environments include:
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239
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240 @cindex Euro sign
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241 @cindex UTF-8
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242 @quotation
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243 Belarusian, Brazilian Portuguese, Bulgarian, Chinese-BIG5,
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244 Chinese-CNS, Chinese-EUC-TW, Chinese-GB, Croatian, Cyrillic-ALT,
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245 Cyrillic-ISO, Cyrillic-KOI8, Czech, Devanagari, Dutch, English,
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246 Ethiopic, French, Georgian, German, Greek, Hebrew, IPA, Italian,
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247 Japanese, Kannada, Korean, Lao, Latin-1, Latin-2, Latin-3,
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248 Latin-4, Latin-5, Latin-6, Latin-7, Latin-8 (Celtic),
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249 Latin-9 (updated Latin-1 with the Euro sign), Latvian,
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250 Lithuanian, Malayalam, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovak,
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251 Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Tajik, Tamil, Thai, Tibetan,
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252 Turkish, UTF-8 (for a setup which prefers Unicode characters and
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253 files encoded in UTF-8), Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Welsh, and
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254 Windows-1255 (for a setup which prefers Cyrillic characters and
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255 files encoded in Windows-1255).
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256 @end quotation
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257
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258 @cindex fonts for various scripts
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259 @cindex Intlfonts package, installation
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260 To display the script(s) used by your language environment on a
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261 graphical display, you need to have a suitable font. If some of the
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262 characters appear as empty boxes, you should install the GNU Intlfonts
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263 package, which includes fonts for most supported scripts.@footnote{If
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264 you run Emacs on X, you need to inform the X server about the location
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265 of the newly installed fonts with the following commands:
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266
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267 @example
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268 xset fp+ /usr/local/share/emacs/fonts
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269 xset fp rehash
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270 @end example
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271 }
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272 @xref{Fontsets}, for more details about setting up your fonts.
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273
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274 @findex set-locale-environment
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275 @vindex locale-language-names
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276 @vindex locale-charset-language-names
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277 @cindex locales
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278 Some operating systems let you specify the character-set locale you
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279 are using by setting the locale environment variables @env{LC_ALL},
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280 @env{LC_CTYPE}, or @env{LANG}.@footnote{If more than one of these is
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281 set, the first one that is nonempty specifies your locale for this
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282 purpose.} During startup, Emacs looks up your character-set locale's
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283 name in the system locale alias table, matches its canonical name
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284 against entries in the value of the variables
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285 @code{locale-charset-language-names} and @code{locale-language-names},
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286 and selects the corresponding language environment if a match is found.
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287 (The former variable overrides the latter.) It also adjusts the display
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288 table and terminal coding system, the locale coding system, the
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289 preferred coding system as needed for the locale, and---last but not
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290 least---the way Emacs decodes non-@acronym{ASCII} characters sent by your keyboard.
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291
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292 If you modify the @env{LC_ALL}, @env{LC_CTYPE}, or @env{LANG}
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293 environment variables while running Emacs, you may want to invoke the
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294 @code{set-locale-environment} function afterwards to readjust the
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295 language environment from the new locale.
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296
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297 @vindex locale-preferred-coding-systems
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298 The @code{set-locale-environment} function normally uses the preferred
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299 coding system established by the language environment to decode system
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300 messages. But if your locale matches an entry in the variable
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301 @code{locale-preferred-coding-systems}, Emacs uses the corresponding
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302 coding system instead. For example, if the locale @samp{ja_JP.PCK}
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303 matches @code{japanese-shift-jis} in
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304 @code{locale-preferred-coding-systems}, Emacs uses that encoding even
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305 though it might normally use @code{japanese-iso-8bit}.
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306
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307 You can override the language environment chosen at startup with
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308 explicit use of the command @code{set-language-environment}, or with
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309 customization of @code{current-language-environment} in your init
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310 file.
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311
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312 @kindex C-h L
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313 @findex describe-language-environment
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314 To display information about the effects of a certain language
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315 environment @var{lang-env}, use the command @kbd{C-h L @var{lang-env}
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316 @key{RET}} (@code{describe-language-environment}). This tells you which
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317 languages this language environment is useful for, and lists the
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318 character sets, coding systems, and input methods that go with it. It
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319 also shows some sample text to illustrate scripts used in this language
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320 environment. By default, this command describes the chosen language
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321 environment.
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322
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323 @vindex set-language-environment-hook
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324 You can customize any language environment with the normal hook
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325 @code{set-language-environment-hook}. The command
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326 @code{set-language-environment} runs that hook after setting up the new
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327 language environment. The hook functions can test for a specific
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328 language environment by checking the variable
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329 @code{current-language-environment}. This hook is where you should
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330 put non-default settings for specific language environment, such as
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331 coding systems for keyboard input and terminal output, the default
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332 input method, etc.
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333
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334 @vindex exit-language-environment-hook
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335 Before it starts to set up the new language environment,
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336 @code{set-language-environment} first runs the hook
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337 @code{exit-language-environment-hook}. This hook is useful for undoing
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338 customizations that were made with @code{set-language-environment-hook}.
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339 For instance, if you set up a special key binding in a specific language
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340 environment using @code{set-language-environment-hook}, you should set
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341 up @code{exit-language-environment-hook} to restore the normal binding
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342 for that key.
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343
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344 @node Input Methods
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345 @section Input Methods
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346
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347 @cindex input methods
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348 An @dfn{input method} is a kind of character conversion designed
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349 specifically for interactive input. In Emacs, typically each language
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350 has its own input method; sometimes several languages which use the same
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351 characters can share one input method. A few languages support several
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352 input methods.
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353
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354 The simplest kind of input method works by mapping @acronym{ASCII} letters
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355 into another alphabet; this allows you to use one other alphabet
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356 instead of @acronym{ASCII}. The Greek and Russian input methods
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357 work this way.
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358
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359 A more powerful technique is composition: converting sequences of
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360 characters into one letter. Many European input methods use composition
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361 to produce a single non-@acronym{ASCII} letter from a sequence that consists of a
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362 letter followed by accent characters (or vice versa). For example, some
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363 methods convert the sequence @kbd{a'} into a single accented letter.
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364 These input methods have no special commands of their own; all they do
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365 is compose sequences of printing characters.
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366
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367 The input methods for syllabic scripts typically use mapping followed
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368 by composition. The input methods for Thai and Korean work this way.
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369 First, letters are mapped into symbols for particular sounds or tone
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370 marks; then, sequences of these which make up a whole syllable are
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371 mapped into one syllable sign.
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372
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373 Chinese and Japanese require more complex methods. In Chinese input
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374 methods, first you enter the phonetic spelling of a Chinese word (in
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375 input method @code{chinese-py}, among others), or a sequence of
3d0bec9036ac Rewrite the description of the operation of Chinese input methods.
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376 portions of the character (input methods @code{chinese-4corner} and
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377 @code{chinese-sw}, and others). One input sequence typically
4d3fd773cd30 Minor cleanups.
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378 corresponds to many possible Chinese characters. You select the one
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379 you mean using keys such as @kbd{C-f}, @kbd{C-b}, @kbd{C-n},
3d0bec9036ac Rewrite the description of the operation of Chinese input methods.
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380 @kbd{C-p}, and digits, which have special meanings in this situation.
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381
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382 The possible characters are conceptually arranged in several rows,
3d0bec9036ac Rewrite the description of the operation of Chinese input methods.
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383 with each row holding up to 10 alternatives. Normally, Emacs displays
3d0bec9036ac Rewrite the description of the operation of Chinese input methods.
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384 just one row at a time, in the echo area; @code{(@var{i}/@var{j})}
3d0bec9036ac Rewrite the description of the operation of Chinese input methods.
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parents: 38515
diff changeset
385 appears at the beginning, to indicate that this is the @var{i}th row
3d0bec9036ac Rewrite the description of the operation of Chinese input methods.
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386 out of a total of @var{j} rows. Type @kbd{C-n} or @kbd{C-p} to
3d0bec9036ac Rewrite the description of the operation of Chinese input methods.
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387 display the next row or the previous row.
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388
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389 Type @kbd{C-f} and @kbd{C-b} to move forward and backward among
3d0bec9036ac Rewrite the description of the operation of Chinese input methods.
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390 the alternatives in the current row. As you do this, Emacs highlights
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391 the current alternative with a special color; type @code{C-@key{SPC}}
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392 to select the current alternative and use it as input. The
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393 alternatives in the row are also numbered; the number appears before
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394 the alternative. Typing a digit @var{n} selects the @var{n}th
3d0bec9036ac Rewrite the description of the operation of Chinese input methods.
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395 alternative of the current row and uses it as input.
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396
3d0bec9036ac Rewrite the description of the operation of Chinese input methods.
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397 @key{TAB} in these Chinese input methods displays a buffer showing
3d0bec9036ac Rewrite the description of the operation of Chinese input methods.
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398 all the possible characters at once; then clicking @kbd{Mouse-2} on
3d0bec9036ac Rewrite the description of the operation of Chinese input methods.
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diff changeset
399 one of them selects that alternative. The keys @kbd{C-f}, @kbd{C-b},
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diff changeset
400 @kbd{C-n}, @kbd{C-p}, and digits continue to work as usual, but they
4d3fd773cd30 Minor cleanups.
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diff changeset
401 do the highlighting in the buffer showing the possible characters,
4d3fd773cd30 Minor cleanups.
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diff changeset
402 rather than in the echo area.
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diff changeset
403
3d0bec9036ac Rewrite the description of the operation of Chinese input methods.
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diff changeset
404 In Japanese input methods, first you input a whole word using
3d0bec9036ac Rewrite the description of the operation of Chinese input methods.
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diff changeset
405 phonetic spelling; then, after the word is in the buffer, Emacs
3d0bec9036ac Rewrite the description of the operation of Chinese input methods.
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diff changeset
406 converts it into one or more characters using a large dictionary. One
3d0bec9036ac Rewrite the description of the operation of Chinese input methods.
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diff changeset
407 phonetic spelling corresponds to a number of different Japanese words;
3d0bec9036ac Rewrite the description of the operation of Chinese input methods.
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diff changeset
408 to select one of them, use @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} to cycle through
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diff changeset
409 the alternatives.
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diff changeset
410
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diff changeset
411 Sometimes it is useful to cut off input method processing so that the
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parents:
diff changeset
412 characters you have just entered will not combine with subsequent
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parents:
diff changeset
413 characters. For example, in input method @code{latin-1-postfix}, the
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parents:
diff changeset
414 sequence @kbd{e '} combines to form an @samp{e} with an accent. What if
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parents:
diff changeset
415 you want to enter them as separate characters?
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parents:
diff changeset
416
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diff changeset
417 One way is to type the accent twice; this is a special feature for
25829
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diff changeset
418 entering the separate letter and accent. For example, @kbd{e ' '} gives
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
419 you the two characters @samp{e'}. Another way is to type another letter
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parents:
diff changeset
420 after the @kbd{e}---something that won't combine with that---and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
421 immediately delete it. For example, you could type @kbd{e e @key{DEL}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
422 '} to get separate @samp{e} and @samp{'}.
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parents:
diff changeset
423
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parents:
diff changeset
424 Another method, more general but not quite as easy to type, is to use
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
425 @kbd{C-\ C-\} between two characters to stop them from combining. This
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
426 is the command @kbd{C-\} (@code{toggle-input-method}) used twice.
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parents:
diff changeset
427 @ifinfo
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diff changeset
428 @xref{Select Input Method}.
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429 @end ifinfo
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diff changeset
430
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diff changeset
431 @cindex incremental search, input method interference
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diff changeset
432 @kbd{C-\ C-\} is especially useful inside an incremental search,
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parents:
diff changeset
433 because it stops waiting for more characters to combine, and starts
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parents:
diff changeset
434 searching for what you have already entered.
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parents:
diff changeset
435
61097
63e2357bbe98 (Input Methods): Minor cleanup.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61067
diff changeset
436 To find out how to input the character after point using the current
63e2357bbe98 (Input Methods): Minor cleanup.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61067
diff changeset
437 input method, type @kbd{C-u C-x =}. @xref{Position Info}.
61067
25e118545445 (Input Methods): Refer to the command C-u C-x =.
Kenichi Handa <handa@m17n.org>
parents: 61052
diff changeset
438
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diff changeset
439 @vindex input-method-verbose-flag
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diff changeset
440 @vindex input-method-highlight-flag
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parents:
diff changeset
441 The variables @code{input-method-highlight-flag} and
37870
af5fdc3ea5b5 Minor clarifications.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37865
diff changeset
442 @code{input-method-verbose-flag} control how input methods explain
af5fdc3ea5b5 Minor clarifications.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37865
diff changeset
443 what is happening. If @code{input-method-highlight-flag} is
af5fdc3ea5b5 Minor clarifications.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37865
diff changeset
444 non-@code{nil}, the partial sequence is highlighted in the buffer (for
af5fdc3ea5b5 Minor clarifications.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37865
diff changeset
445 most input methods---some disable this feature). If
af5fdc3ea5b5 Minor clarifications.
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parents: 37865
diff changeset
446 @code{input-method-verbose-flag} is non-@code{nil}, the list of
af5fdc3ea5b5 Minor clarifications.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37865
diff changeset
447 possible characters to type next is displayed in the echo area (but
af5fdc3ea5b5 Minor clarifications.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37865
diff changeset
448 not when you are in the minibuffer).
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449
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diff changeset
450 @node Select Input Method
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diff changeset
451 @section Selecting an Input Method
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parents:
diff changeset
452
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diff changeset
453 @table @kbd
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diff changeset
454 @item C-\
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diff changeset
455 Enable or disable use of the selected input method.
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parents:
diff changeset
456
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parents:
diff changeset
457 @item C-x @key{RET} C-\ @var{method} @key{RET}
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parents:
diff changeset
458 Select a new input method for the current buffer.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
459
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
460 @item C-h I @var{method} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
461 @itemx C-h C-\ @var{method} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
462 @findex describe-input-method
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parents:
diff changeset
463 @kindex C-h I
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parents:
diff changeset
464 @kindex C-h C-\
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diff changeset
465 Describe the input method @var{method} (@code{describe-input-method}).
31204
130dd2c5797b *** empty log message ***
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parents: 31141
diff changeset
466 By default, it describes the current input method (if any). This
130dd2c5797b *** empty log message ***
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parents: 31141
diff changeset
467 description should give you the full details of how to use any
31270
a45cbbc51e09 *** empty log message ***
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parents: 31257
diff changeset
468 particular input method.
25829
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diff changeset
469
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470 @item M-x list-input-methods
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
471 Display a list of all the supported input methods.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
472 @end table
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parents:
diff changeset
473
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parents:
diff changeset
474 @findex set-input-method
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parents:
diff changeset
475 @vindex current-input-method
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parents:
diff changeset
476 @kindex C-x RET C-\
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parents:
diff changeset
477 To choose an input method for the current buffer, use @kbd{C-x
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diff changeset
478 @key{RET} C-\} (@code{set-input-method}). This command reads the
38460
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
479 input method name from the minibuffer; the name normally starts with the
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
480 language environment that it is meant to be used with. The variable
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
481 @code{current-input-method} records which input method is selected.
49600
23a1cea22d13 Trailing whitespace deleted.
Juanma Barranquero <lekktu@gmail.com>
parents: 46912
diff changeset
482
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
483 @findex toggle-input-method
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
484 @kindex C-\
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
485 Input methods use various sequences of @acronym{ASCII} characters to stand for
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
486 non-@acronym{ASCII} characters. Sometimes it is useful to turn off the input
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
487 method temporarily. To do this, type @kbd{C-\}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
488 (@code{toggle-input-method}). To reenable the input method, type
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
489 @kbd{C-\} again.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
490
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
491 If you type @kbd{C-\} and you have not yet selected an input method,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
492 it prompts for you to specify one. This has the same effect as using
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
493 @kbd{C-x @key{RET} C-\} to specify an input method.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
494
36850
e1167ad75cde (Select Input Method): Document the behavior of toggle-input-method
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36334
diff changeset
495 When invoked with a numeric argument, as in @kbd{C-u C-\},
e1167ad75cde (Select Input Method): Document the behavior of toggle-input-method
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36334
diff changeset
496 @code{toggle-input-method} always prompts you for an input method,
e1167ad75cde (Select Input Method): Document the behavior of toggle-input-method
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36334
diff changeset
497 suggesting the most recently selected one as the default.
e1167ad75cde (Select Input Method): Document the behavior of toggle-input-method
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36334
diff changeset
498
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
499 @vindex default-input-method
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
500 Selecting a language environment specifies a default input method for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
501 use in various buffers. When you have a default input method, you can
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
502 select it in the current buffer by typing @kbd{C-\}. The variable
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
503 @code{default-input-method} specifies the default input method
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
504 (@code{nil} means there is none).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
505
37019
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
506 In some language environments, which support several different input
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
507 methods, you might want to use an input method different from the
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
508 default chosen by @code{set-language-environment}. You can instruct
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
509 Emacs to select a different default input method for a certain
37870
af5fdc3ea5b5 Minor clarifications.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 37865
diff changeset
510 language environment, if you wish, by using
37019
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
511 @code{set-language-environment-hook} (@pxref{Language Environments,
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
512 set-language-environment-hook}). For example:
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
513
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
514 @lisp
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
515 (defun my-chinese-setup ()
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
516 "Set up my private Chinese environment."
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
517 (if (equal current-language-environment "Chinese-GB")
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
518 (setq default-input-method "chinese-tonepy")))
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
519 (add-hook 'set-language-environment-hook 'my-chinese-setup)
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
520 @end lisp
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
521
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
522 @noindent
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
523 This sets the default input method to be @code{chinese-tonepy}
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
524 whenever you choose a Chinese-GB language environment.
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
525
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
526 @findex quail-set-keyboard-layout
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
527 Some input methods for alphabetic scripts work by (in effect)
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
528 remapping the keyboard to emulate various keyboard layouts commonly used
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
529 for those scripts. How to do this remapping properly depends on your
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
530 actual keyboard layout. To specify which layout your keyboard has, use
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
531 the command @kbd{M-x quail-set-keyboard-layout}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
532
60800
06251e15fd5e (Input Methods): Leim is now built-in.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 59796
diff changeset
533 @findex quail-show-key
63683
9560f6365236 (Select Input Method): Fix typo.
Lute Kamstra <lute@gnu.org>
parents: 63680
diff changeset
534 You can use the command @kbd{M-x quail-show-key} to show what key (or
9560f6365236 (Select Input Method): Fix typo.
Lute Kamstra <lute@gnu.org>
parents: 63680
diff changeset
535 key sequence) to type in order to input the character following point,
9560f6365236 (Select Input Method): Fix typo.
Lute Kamstra <lute@gnu.org>
parents: 63680
diff changeset
536 using the selected keyboard layout. The command @kbd{C-u C-x =} also
9560f6365236 (Select Input Method): Fix typo.
Lute Kamstra <lute@gnu.org>
parents: 63680
diff changeset
537 shows that information in addition to the other information about the
9560f6365236 (Select Input Method): Fix typo.
Lute Kamstra <lute@gnu.org>
parents: 63680
diff changeset
538 character.
60800
06251e15fd5e (Input Methods): Leim is now built-in.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 59796
diff changeset
539
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
540 @findex list-input-methods
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
541 To display a list of all the supported input methods, type @kbd{M-x
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
542 list-input-methods}. The list gives information about each input
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
543 method, including the string that stands for it in the mode line.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
544
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
545 @node Multibyte Conversion
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
546 @section Unibyte and Multibyte Non-@acronym{ASCII} characters
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
547
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
548 When multibyte characters are enabled, character codes 0240 (octal)
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
549 through 0377 (octal) are not really legitimate in the buffer. The valid
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
550 non-@acronym{ASCII} printing characters have codes that start from 0400.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
551
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
552 If you type a self-inserting character in the range 0240 through
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
553 0377, or if you use @kbd{C-q} to insert one, Emacs assumes you
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
554 intended to use one of the ISO Latin-@var{n} character sets, and
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
555 converts it to the Emacs code representing that Latin-@var{n}
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
556 character. You select @emph{which} ISO Latin character set to use
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
557 through your choice of language environment
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
558 @iftex
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
559 (see above).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
560 @end iftex
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
561 @ifinfo
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
562 (@pxref{Language Environments}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
563 @end ifinfo
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
564 If you do not specify a choice, the default is Latin-1.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
565
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
566 If you insert a character in the range 0200 through 0237, which
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
567 forms the @code{eight-bit-control} character set, it is inserted
33745
78ec4a7ba765 (Undisplayable Characters): New node.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 32386
diff changeset
568 literally. You should normally avoid doing this since buffers
78ec4a7ba765 (Undisplayable Characters): New node.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 32386
diff changeset
569 containing such characters have to be written out in either the
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
570 @code{emacs-mule} or @code{raw-text} coding system, which is usually
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
571 not what you want.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
572
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
573 @node Coding Systems
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
574 @section Coding Systems
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
575 @cindex coding systems
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
576
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
577 Users of various languages have established many more-or-less standard
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
578 coding systems for representing them. Emacs does not use these coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
579 systems internally; instead, it converts from various coding systems to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
580 its own system when reading data, and converts the internal coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
581 system to other coding systems when writing data. Conversion is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
582 possible in reading or writing files, in sending or receiving from the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
583 terminal, and in exchanging data with subprocesses.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
584
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
585 Emacs assigns a name to each coding system. Most coding systems are
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
586 used for one language, and the name of the coding system starts with the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
587 language name. Some coding systems are used for several languages;
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
588 their names usually start with @samp{iso}. There are also special
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
589 coding systems @code{no-conversion}, @code{raw-text} and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
590 @code{emacs-mule} which do not convert printing characters at all.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
591
37584
9a7fd51a92b3 (International): Add an overview of Mule features, with pointers to
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 37086
diff changeset
592 @cindex international files from DOS/Windows systems
32386
d65f9772ee72 Mention the cpNNNN coding systems, with an xref to msdog.texi.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 32275
diff changeset
593 A special class of coding systems, collectively known as
d65f9772ee72 Mention the cpNNNN coding systems, with an xref to msdog.texi.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 32275
diff changeset
594 @dfn{codepages}, is designed to support text encoded by MS-Windows and
d65f9772ee72 Mention the cpNNNN coding systems, with an xref to msdog.texi.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 32275
diff changeset
595 MS-DOS software. To use any of these systems, you need to create it
37584
9a7fd51a92b3 (International): Add an overview of Mule features, with pointers to
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 37086
diff changeset
596 with @kbd{M-x codepage-setup}. @xref{MS-DOS and MULE}. After
9a7fd51a92b3 (International): Add an overview of Mule features, with pointers to
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 37086
diff changeset
597 creating the coding system for the codepage, you can use it as any
9a7fd51a92b3 (International): Add an overview of Mule features, with pointers to
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 37086
diff changeset
598 other coding system. For example, to visit a file encoded in codepage
9a7fd51a92b3 (International): Add an overview of Mule features, with pointers to
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 37086
diff changeset
599 850, type @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c cp850 @key{RET} C-x C-f @var{filename}
9a7fd51a92b3 (International): Add an overview of Mule features, with pointers to
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 37086
diff changeset
600 @key{RET}}.
32386
d65f9772ee72 Mention the cpNNNN coding systems, with an xref to msdog.texi.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 32275
diff changeset
601
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
602 In addition to converting various representations of non-@acronym{ASCII}
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
603 characters, a coding system can perform end-of-line conversion. Emacs
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
604 handles three different conventions for how to separate lines in a file:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
605 newline, carriage-return linefeed, and just carriage-return.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
606
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
607 @table @kbd
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
608 @item C-h C @var{coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
609 Describe coding system @var{coding}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
610
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
611 @item C-h C @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
612 Describe the coding systems currently in use.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
613
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
614 @item M-x list-coding-systems
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
615 Display a list of all the supported coding systems.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
616 @end table
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
617
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
618 @kindex C-h C
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
619 @findex describe-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
620 The command @kbd{C-h C} (@code{describe-coding-system}) displays
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
621 information about particular coding systems. You can specify a coding
38460
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
622 system name as the argument; alternatively, with an empty argument, it
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
623 describes the coding systems currently selected for various purposes,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
624 both in the current buffer and as the defaults, and the priority list
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
625 for recognizing coding systems (@pxref{Recognize Coding}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
626
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
627 @findex list-coding-systems
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
628 To display a list of all the supported coding systems, type @kbd{M-x
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
629 list-coding-systems}. The list gives information about each coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
630 system, including the letter that stands for it in the mode line
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
631 (@pxref{Mode Line}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
632
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
633 @cindex end-of-line conversion
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
634 @cindex MS-DOS end-of-line conversion
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
635 @cindex Macintosh end-of-line conversion
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
636 Each of the coding systems that appear in this list---except for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
637 @code{no-conversion}, which means no conversion of any kind---specifies
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
638 how and whether to convert printing characters, but leaves the choice of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
639 end-of-line conversion to be decided based on the contents of each file.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
640 For example, if the file appears to use the sequence carriage-return
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
641 linefeed to separate lines, DOS end-of-line conversion will be used.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
642
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
643 Each of the listed coding systems has three variants which specify
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
644 exactly what to do for end-of-line conversion:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
645
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
646 @table @code
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
647 @item @dots{}-unix
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
648 Don't do any end-of-line conversion; assume the file uses
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
649 newline to separate lines. (This is the convention normally used
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
650 on Unix and GNU systems.)
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
651
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
652 @item @dots{}-dos
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
653 Assume the file uses carriage-return linefeed to separate lines, and do
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
654 the appropriate conversion. (This is the convention normally used on
36185
62cf166239f3 Change in quoting.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36170
diff changeset
655 Microsoft systems.@footnote{It is also specified for MIME @samp{text/*}
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
656 bodies and in other network transport contexts. It is different
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
657 from the SGML reference syntax record-start/record-end format which
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
658 Emacs doesn't support directly.})
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
659
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
660 @item @dots{}-mac
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
661 Assume the file uses carriage-return to separate lines, and do the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
662 appropriate conversion. (This is the convention normally used on the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
663 Macintosh system.)
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
664 @end table
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
665
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
666 These variant coding systems are omitted from the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
667 @code{list-coding-systems} display for brevity, since they are entirely
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
668 predictable. For example, the coding system @code{iso-latin-1} has
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
669 variants @code{iso-latin-1-unix}, @code{iso-latin-1-dos} and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
670 @code{iso-latin-1-mac}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
671
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
672 The coding system @code{raw-text} is good for a file which is mainly
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
673 @acronym{ASCII} text, but may contain byte values above 127 which are not meant to
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
674 encode non-@acronym{ASCII} characters. With @code{raw-text}, Emacs copies those
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
675 byte values unchanged, and sets @code{enable-multibyte-characters} to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
676 @code{nil} in the current buffer so that they will be interpreted
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
677 properly. @code{raw-text} handles end-of-line conversion in the usual
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
678 way, based on the data encountered, and has the usual three variants to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
679 specify the kind of end-of-line conversion to use.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
680
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
681 In contrast, the coding system @code{no-conversion} specifies no
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
682 character code conversion at all---none for non-@acronym{ASCII} byte values and
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
683 none for end of line. This is useful for reading or writing binary
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
684 files, tar files, and other files that must be examined verbatim. It,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
685 too, sets @code{enable-multibyte-characters} to @code{nil}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
686
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
687 The easiest way to edit a file with no conversion of any kind is with
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
688 the @kbd{M-x find-file-literally} command. This uses
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
689 @code{no-conversion}, and also suppresses other Emacs features that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
690 might convert the file contents before you see them. @xref{Visiting}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
691
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
692 The coding system @code{emacs-mule} means that the file contains
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
693 non-@acronym{ASCII} characters stored with the internal Emacs encoding. It
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
694 handles end-of-line conversion based on the data encountered, and has
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
695 the usual three variants to specify the kind of end-of-line conversion.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
696
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
697 @node Recognize Coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
698 @section Recognizing Coding Systems
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
699
37584
9a7fd51a92b3 (International): Add an overview of Mule features, with pointers to
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 37086
diff changeset
700 Emacs tries to recognize which coding system to use for a given text
9a7fd51a92b3 (International): Add an overview of Mule features, with pointers to
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 37086
diff changeset
701 as an integral part of reading that text. (This applies to files
9a7fd51a92b3 (International): Add an overview of Mule features, with pointers to
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 37086
diff changeset
702 being read, output from subprocesses, text from X selections, etc.)
9a7fd51a92b3 (International): Add an overview of Mule features, with pointers to
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 37086
diff changeset
703 Emacs can select the right coding system automatically most of the
9a7fd51a92b3 (International): Add an overview of Mule features, with pointers to
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 37086
diff changeset
704 time---once you have specified your preferences.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
705
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
706 Some coding systems can be recognized or distinguished by which byte
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
707 sequences appear in the data. However, there are coding systems that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
708 cannot be distinguished, not even potentially. For example, there is no
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
709 way to distinguish between Latin-1 and Latin-2; they use the same byte
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
710 values with different meanings.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
711
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
712 Emacs handles this situation by means of a priority list of coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
713 systems. Whenever Emacs reads a file, if you do not specify the coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
714 system to use, Emacs checks the data against each coding system,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
715 starting with the first in priority and working down the list, until it
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
716 finds a coding system that fits the data. Then it converts the file
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
717 contents assuming that they are represented in this coding system.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
718
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
719 The priority list of coding systems depends on the selected language
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
720 environment (@pxref{Language Environments}). For example, if you use
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
721 French, you probably want Emacs to prefer Latin-1 to Latin-2; if you use
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
722 Czech, you probably want Latin-2 to be preferred. This is one of the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
723 reasons to specify a language environment.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
724
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
725 @findex prefer-coding-system
44325
79f4beb26480 Minor cleanups.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 43909
diff changeset
726 However, you can alter the coding system priority list in detail
79f4beb26480 Minor cleanups.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 43909
diff changeset
727 with the command @kbd{M-x prefer-coding-system}. This command reads
79f4beb26480 Minor cleanups.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 43909
diff changeset
728 the name of a coding system from the minibuffer, and adds it to the
79f4beb26480 Minor cleanups.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 43909
diff changeset
729 front of the priority list, so that it is preferred to all others. If
79f4beb26480 Minor cleanups.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 43909
diff changeset
730 you use this command several times, each use adds one element to the
79f4beb26480 Minor cleanups.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 43909
diff changeset
731 front of the priority list.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
732
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
733 If you use a coding system that specifies the end-of-line conversion
38460
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
734 type, such as @code{iso-8859-1-dos}, what this means is that Emacs
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
735 should attempt to recognize @code{iso-8859-1} with priority, and should
38786
4d3fd773cd30 Minor cleanups.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38685
diff changeset
736 use DOS end-of-line conversion when it does recognize @code{iso-8859-1}.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
737
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
738 @vindex file-coding-system-alist
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
739 Sometimes a file name indicates which coding system to use for the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
740 file. The variable @code{file-coding-system-alist} specifies this
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
741 correspondence. There is a special function
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
742 @code{modify-coding-system-alist} for adding elements to this list. For
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
743 example, to read and write all @samp{.txt} files using the coding system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
744 @code{china-iso-8bit}, you can execute this Lisp expression:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
745
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
746 @smallexample
63680
834cdf15f68b (International): List all supported scripts. Adjust
Kenichi Handa <handa@m17n.org>
parents: 62476
diff changeset
747 (modify-coding-system-alist 'file "\\.txt\\'" 'chinese-iso-8bit)
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
748 @end smallexample
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
749
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
750 @noindent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
751 The first argument should be @code{file}, the second argument should be
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
752 a regular expression that determines which files this applies to, and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
753 the third argument says which coding system to use for these files.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
754
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
755 @vindex inhibit-eol-conversion
30375
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
756 @cindex DOS-style end-of-line display
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
757 Emacs recognizes which kind of end-of-line conversion to use based on
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
758 the contents of the file: if it sees only carriage-returns, or only
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
759 carriage-return linefeed sequences, then it chooses the end-of-line
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
760 conversion accordingly. You can inhibit the automatic use of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
761 end-of-line conversion by setting the variable @code{inhibit-eol-conversion}
37019
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
762 to non-@code{nil}. If you do that, DOS-style files will be displayed
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
763 with the @samp{^M} characters visible in the buffer; some people
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
764 prefer this to the more subtle @samp{(DOS)} end-of-line type
1deafff9fd1f (Language Environments): Explain how to update the X
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 36875
diff changeset
765 indication near the left edge of the mode line (@pxref{Mode Line,
37081
71fe12822bf3 Fix last change.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 37019
diff changeset
766 eol-mnemonic}).
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
767
30375
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
768 @vindex inhibit-iso-escape-detection
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
769 @cindex escape sequences in files
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
770 By default, the automatic detection of coding system is sensitive to
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
771 escape sequences. If Emacs sees a sequence of characters that begin
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
772 with an escape character, and the sequence is valid as an ISO-2022
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
773 code, that tells Emacs to use one of the ISO-2022 encodings to decode
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
774 the file.
30375
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
775
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
776 However, there may be cases that you want to read escape sequences
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
777 in a file as is. In such a case, you can set the variable
30375
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
778 @code{inhibit-iso-escape-detection} to non-@code{nil}. Then the code
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
779 detection ignores any escape sequences, and never uses an ISO-2022
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
780 encoding. The result is that all escape sequences become visible in
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
781 the buffer.
30375
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
782
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
783 The default value of @code{inhibit-iso-escape-detection} is
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
784 @code{nil}. We recommend that you not change it permanently, only for
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
785 one specific operation. That's because many Emacs Lisp source files
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
786 in the Emacs distribution contain non-@acronym{ASCII} characters encoded in the
38460
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
787 coding system @code{iso-2022-7bit}, and they won't be
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
788 decoded correctly when you visit those files if you suppress the
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
789 escape sequence detection.
30375
5c4951d58989 (Recognize Coding): Document the variable inhibit-iso-escape-detection.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 29826
diff changeset
790
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
791 @vindex coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
792 You can specify the coding system for a particular file using the
38460
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
793 @w{@samp{-*-@dots{}-*-}} construct at the beginning of a file, or a
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
794 local variables list at the end (@pxref{File Variables}). You do this
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
795 by defining a value for the ``variable'' named @code{coding}. Emacs
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
796 does not really have a variable @code{coding}; instead of setting a
38786
4d3fd773cd30 Minor cleanups.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38685
diff changeset
797 variable, this uses the specified coding system for the file. For
38460
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
798 example, @samp{-*-mode: C; coding: latin-1;-*-} specifies use of the
38786
4d3fd773cd30 Minor cleanups.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38685
diff changeset
799 Latin-1 coding system, as well as C mode. When you specify the coding
38460
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
800 explicitly in the file, that overrides
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
801 @code{file-coding-system-alist}.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
802
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
803 @vindex auto-coding-alist
37766
9be4cab94990 Add something for auto-coding-regexp-alist.
Gerd Moellmann <gerd@gnu.org>
parents: 37630
diff changeset
804 @vindex auto-coding-regexp-alist
45451
99b053f1b7f6 (Recognize Coding): Note addition of `auto-coding-functions'.
Colin Walters <walters@gnu.org>
parents: 44325
diff changeset
805 @vindex auto-coding-functions
99b053f1b7f6 (Recognize Coding): Note addition of `auto-coding-functions'.
Colin Walters <walters@gnu.org>
parents: 44325
diff changeset
806 The variables @code{auto-coding-alist},
99b053f1b7f6 (Recognize Coding): Note addition of `auto-coding-functions'.
Colin Walters <walters@gnu.org>
parents: 44325
diff changeset
807 @code{auto-coding-regexp-alist} and @code{auto-coding-functions} are
99b053f1b7f6 (Recognize Coding): Note addition of `auto-coding-functions'.
Colin Walters <walters@gnu.org>
parents: 44325
diff changeset
808 the strongest way to specify the coding system for certain patterns of
99b053f1b7f6 (Recognize Coding): Note addition of `auto-coding-functions'.
Colin Walters <walters@gnu.org>
parents: 44325
diff changeset
809 file names, or for files containing certain patterns; these variables
99b053f1b7f6 (Recognize Coding): Note addition of `auto-coding-functions'.
Colin Walters <walters@gnu.org>
parents: 44325
diff changeset
810 even override @samp{-*-coding:-*-} tags in the file itself. Emacs
99b053f1b7f6 (Recognize Coding): Note addition of `auto-coding-functions'.
Colin Walters <walters@gnu.org>
parents: 44325
diff changeset
811 uses @code{auto-coding-alist} for tar and archive files, to prevent it
37766
9be4cab94990 Add something for auto-coding-regexp-alist.
Gerd Moellmann <gerd@gnu.org>
parents: 37630
diff changeset
812 from being confused by a @samp{-*-coding:-*-} tag in a member of the
9be4cab94990 Add something for auto-coding-regexp-alist.
Gerd Moellmann <gerd@gnu.org>
parents: 37630
diff changeset
813 archive and thinking it applies to the archive file as a whole.
9be4cab94990 Add something for auto-coding-regexp-alist.
Gerd Moellmann <gerd@gnu.org>
parents: 37630
diff changeset
814 Likewise, Emacs uses @code{auto-coding-regexp-alist} to ensure that
45451
99b053f1b7f6 (Recognize Coding): Note addition of `auto-coding-functions'.
Colin Walters <walters@gnu.org>
parents: 44325
diff changeset
815 RMAIL files, whose names in general don't match any particular
99b053f1b7f6 (Recognize Coding): Note addition of `auto-coding-functions'.
Colin Walters <walters@gnu.org>
parents: 44325
diff changeset
816 pattern, are decoded correctly. One of the builtin
99b053f1b7f6 (Recognize Coding): Note addition of `auto-coding-functions'.
Colin Walters <walters@gnu.org>
parents: 44325
diff changeset
817 @code{auto-coding-functions} detects the encoding for XML files.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
818
37584
9a7fd51a92b3 (International): Add an overview of Mule features, with pointers to
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 37086
diff changeset
819 If Emacs recognizes the encoding of a file incorrectly, you can
9a7fd51a92b3 (International): Add an overview of Mule features, with pointers to
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 37086
diff changeset
820 reread the file using the correct coding system by typing @kbd{C-x
64159
fcef9d2256d2 (Recognize Coding): Recommend revert-buffer-with-coding-system instead
Kenichi Handa <handa@m17n.org>
parents: 63683
diff changeset
821 @key{RET} r @var{coding-system}
38133
4eaf5126c0e5 Minor wording fixes.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38050
diff changeset
822 @key{RET}}. To see what coding system Emacs actually used to decode
4eaf5126c0e5 Minor wording fixes.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38050
diff changeset
823 the file, look at the coding system mnemonic letter near the left edge
4eaf5126c0e5 Minor wording fixes.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38050
diff changeset
824 of the mode line (@pxref{Mode Line}), or type @kbd{C-h C @key{RET}}.
37584
9a7fd51a92b3 (International): Add an overview of Mule features, with pointers to
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 37086
diff changeset
825
46204
dfc0a989ae61 Document unify-8859-on-decoding-mode.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 45451
diff changeset
826 @findex unify-8859-on-decoding-mode
dfc0a989ae61 Document unify-8859-on-decoding-mode.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 45451
diff changeset
827 The command @code{unify-8859-on-decoding-mode} enables a mode that
dfc0a989ae61 Document unify-8859-on-decoding-mode.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 45451
diff changeset
828 ``unifies'' the Latin alphabets when decoding text. This works by
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
829 converting all non-@acronym{ASCII} Latin-@var{n} characters to either Latin-1 or
46204
dfc0a989ae61 Document unify-8859-on-decoding-mode.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 45451
diff changeset
830 Unicode characters. This way it is easier to use various
dfc0a989ae61 Document unify-8859-on-decoding-mode.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 45451
diff changeset
831 Latin-@var{n} alphabets together. In a future Emacs version we hope
dfc0a989ae61 Document unify-8859-on-decoding-mode.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 45451
diff changeset
832 to move towards full Unicode support and complete unification of
dfc0a989ae61 Document unify-8859-on-decoding-mode.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 45451
diff changeset
833 character sets.
dfc0a989ae61 Document unify-8859-on-decoding-mode.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 45451
diff changeset
834
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
835 @vindex buffer-file-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
836 Once Emacs has chosen a coding system for a buffer, it stores that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
837 coding system in @code{buffer-file-coding-system} and uses that coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
838 system, by default, for operations that write from this buffer into a
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
839 file. This includes the commands @code{save-buffer} and
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
840 @code{write-region}. If you want to write files from this buffer using
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
841 a different coding system, you can specify a different coding system for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
842 the buffer using @code{set-buffer-file-coding-system} (@pxref{Specify
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
843 Coding}).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
844
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
845 You can insert any possible character into any Emacs buffer, but
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
846 most coding systems can only handle some of the possible characters.
38460
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
847 This means that it is possible for you to insert characters that
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
848 cannot be encoded with the coding system that will be used to save the
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
849 buffer. For example, you could start with an @acronym{ASCII} file and insert a
38460
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
850 few Latin-1 characters into it, or you could edit a text file in
38786
4d3fd773cd30 Minor cleanups.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38685
diff changeset
851 Polish encoded in @code{iso-8859-2} and add some Russian words to it.
4d3fd773cd30 Minor cleanups.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38685
diff changeset
852 When you save the buffer, Emacs cannot use the current value of
4d3fd773cd30 Minor cleanups.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38685
diff changeset
853 @code{buffer-file-coding-system}, because the characters you added
4d3fd773cd30 Minor cleanups.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38685
diff changeset
854 cannot be encoded by that coding system.
31021
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
855
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
856 When that happens, Emacs tries the most-preferred coding system (set
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
857 by @kbd{M-x prefer-coding-system} or @kbd{M-x
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
858 set-language-environment}), and if that coding system can safely
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
859 encode all of the characters in the buffer, Emacs uses it, and stores
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
860 its value in @code{buffer-file-coding-system}. Otherwise, Emacs
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
861 displays a list of coding systems suitable for encoding the buffer's
38050
89031b4b9a28 Proofreading fixes from Tim Sanders <tim@timsanders.freeserve.co.uk>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 37870
diff changeset
862 contents, and asks you to choose one of those coding systems.
31021
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
863
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
864 If you insert the unsuitable characters in a mail message, Emacs
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
865 behaves a bit differently. It additionally checks whether the
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
866 most-preferred coding system is recommended for use in MIME messages;
38863
f62c80f79bd5 Minor clarification.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38786
diff changeset
867 if not, Emacs tells you that the most-preferred coding system is
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
868 not recommended and prompts you for another coding system. This is so
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
869 you won't inadvertently send a message encoded in a way that your
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
870 recipient's mail software will have difficulty decoding. (If you do
38050
89031b4b9a28 Proofreading fixes from Tim Sanders <tim@timsanders.freeserve.co.uk>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 37870
diff changeset
871 want to use the most-preferred coding system, you can still type its
38133
4eaf5126c0e5 Minor wording fixes.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 38050
diff changeset
872 name in response to the question.)
31021
5380bd6b450e Document the way Emacs prompts for a safe coding system when the
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 30375
diff changeset
873
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
874 @vindex sendmail-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
875 When you send a message with Mail mode (@pxref{Sending Mail}), Emacs has
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
876 four different ways to determine the coding system to use for encoding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
877 the message text. It tries the buffer's own value of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
878 @code{buffer-file-coding-system}, if that is non-@code{nil}. Otherwise,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
879 it uses the value of @code{sendmail-coding-system}, if that is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
880 non-@code{nil}. The third way is to use the default coding system for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
881 new files, which is controlled by your choice of language environment,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
882 if that is non-@code{nil}. If all of these three values are @code{nil},
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
883 Emacs encodes outgoing mail using the Latin-1 coding system.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
884
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
885 @vindex rmail-decode-mime-charset
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
886 When you get new mail in Rmail, each message is translated
38460
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
887 automatically from the coding system it is written in, as if it were a
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
888 separate file. This uses the priority list of coding systems that you
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
889 have specified. If a MIME message specifies a character set, Rmail
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
890 obeys that specification, unless @code{rmail-decode-mime-charset} is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
891 @code{nil}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
892
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
893 @vindex rmail-file-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
894 For reading and saving Rmail files themselves, Emacs uses the coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
895 system specified by the variable @code{rmail-file-coding-system}. The
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
896 default value is @code{nil}, which means that Rmail files are not
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
897 translated (they are read and written in the Emacs internal character
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
898 code).
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
899
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
900 @node Specify Coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
901 @section Specifying a Coding System
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
902
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
903 In cases where Emacs does not automatically choose the right coding
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
904 system, you can use these commands to specify one:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
905
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
906 @table @kbd
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
907 @item C-x @key{RET} f @var{coding} @key{RET}
46912
487968d71def Explain how C-x RET f and C-x RET c affect saving.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46236
diff changeset
908 Use coding system @var{coding} for saving or revisiting the visited
487968d71def Explain how C-x RET f and C-x RET c affect saving.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46236
diff changeset
909 file in the current buffer.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
910
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
911 @item C-x @key{RET} c @var{coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
912 Specify coding system @var{coding} for the immediately following
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
913 command.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
914
60800
06251e15fd5e (Input Methods): Leim is now built-in.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 59796
diff changeset
915 @item C-x @key{RET} r @var{coding} @key{RET}
06251e15fd5e (Input Methods): Leim is now built-in.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 59796
diff changeset
916 Revisit the current file using the coding system @var{coding}.
06251e15fd5e (Input Methods): Leim is now built-in.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 59796
diff changeset
917
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
918 @item C-x @key{RET} k @var{coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
919 Use coding system @var{coding} for keyboard input.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
920
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
921 @item C-x @key{RET} t @var{coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
922 Use coding system @var{coding} for terminal output.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
923
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
924 @item C-x @key{RET} p @var{input-coding} @key{RET} @var{output-coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
925 Use coding systems @var{input-coding} and @var{output-coding} for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
926 subprocess input and output in the current buffer.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
927
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
928 @item C-x @key{RET} x @var{coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
929 Use coding system @var{coding} for transferring selections to and from
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
930 other programs through the window system.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
931
54271
7232ffdd33dd (Specify Coding): Doc C-x RET F.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 52979
diff changeset
932 @item C-x @key{RET} F @var{coding} @key{RET}
7232ffdd33dd (Specify Coding): Doc C-x RET F.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 52979
diff changeset
933 Use coding system @var{coding} for encoding and decoding file
7232ffdd33dd (Specify Coding): Doc C-x RET F.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 52979
diff changeset
934 @emph{names}. This affects the use of non-ASCII characters in file
7232ffdd33dd (Specify Coding): Doc C-x RET F.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 52979
diff changeset
935 names. It has no effect on reading and writing the @emph{contents} of
7232ffdd33dd (Specify Coding): Doc C-x RET F.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 52979
diff changeset
936 files.
7232ffdd33dd (Specify Coding): Doc C-x RET F.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 52979
diff changeset
937
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
938 @item C-x @key{RET} X @var{coding} @key{RET}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
939 Use coding system @var{coding} for transferring @emph{one}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
940 selection---the next one---to or from the window system.
61052
f49b6692433d (Specify Coding): Document recode-region and recode-file-name.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60884
diff changeset
941
f49b6692433d (Specify Coding): Document recode-region and recode-file-name.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60884
diff changeset
942 @item M-x recode-region
f49b6692433d (Specify Coding): Document recode-region and recode-file-name.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60884
diff changeset
943 Convert the region from a previous coding system to a new one.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
944 @end table
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
945
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
946 @kindex C-x RET f
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
947 @findex set-buffer-file-coding-system
46912
487968d71def Explain how C-x RET f and C-x RET c affect saving.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46236
diff changeset
948 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} f}
487968d71def Explain how C-x RET f and C-x RET c affect saving.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46236
diff changeset
949 (@code{set-buffer-file-coding-system}) sets the file coding system for
487968d71def Explain how C-x RET f and C-x RET c affect saving.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46236
diff changeset
950 the current buffer---in other words, it says which coding system to
487968d71def Explain how C-x RET f and C-x RET c affect saving.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46236
diff changeset
951 use when saving or reverting the visited file. You specify which
487968d71def Explain how C-x RET f and C-x RET c affect saving.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46236
diff changeset
952 coding system using the minibuffer. If you specify a coding system
487968d71def Explain how C-x RET f and C-x RET c affect saving.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46236
diff changeset
953 that cannot handle all of the characters in the buffer, Emacs warns
487968d71def Explain how C-x RET f and C-x RET c affect saving.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46236
diff changeset
954 you about the troublesome characters when you actually save the
487968d71def Explain how C-x RET f and C-x RET c affect saving.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46236
diff changeset
955 buffer.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
956
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
957 @kindex C-x RET c
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
958 @findex universal-coding-system-argument
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
959 Another way to specify the coding system for a file is when you visit
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
960 the file. First use the command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
961 (@code{universal-coding-system-argument}); this command uses the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
962 minibuffer to read a coding system name. After you exit the minibuffer,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
963 the specified coding system is used for @emph{the immediately following
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
964 command}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
965
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
966 So if the immediately following command is @kbd{C-x C-f}, for example,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
967 it reads the file using that coding system (and records the coding
46912
487968d71def Explain how C-x RET f and C-x RET c affect saving.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46236
diff changeset
968 system for when you later save the file). Or if the immediately following
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
969 command is @kbd{C-x C-w}, it writes the file using that coding system.
46912
487968d71def Explain how C-x RET f and C-x RET c affect saving.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46236
diff changeset
970 When you specify the coding system for saving in this way, instead
487968d71def Explain how C-x RET f and C-x RET c affect saving.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46236
diff changeset
971 of with @kbd{C-x @key{RET} f}, there is no warning if the buffer
487968d71def Explain how C-x RET f and C-x RET c affect saving.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46236
diff changeset
972 contains characters that the coding system cannot handle.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
973
46912
487968d71def Explain how C-x RET f and C-x RET c affect saving.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46236
diff changeset
974 Other file commands affected by a specified coding system include
487968d71def Explain how C-x RET f and C-x RET c affect saving.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46236
diff changeset
975 @kbd{C-x C-i} and @kbd{C-x C-v}, as well as the other-window variants
487968d71def Explain how C-x RET f and C-x RET c affect saving.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46236
diff changeset
976 of @kbd{C-x C-f}. @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} also affects commands that
487968d71def Explain how C-x RET f and C-x RET c affect saving.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46236
diff changeset
977 start subprocesses, including @kbd{M-x shell} (@pxref{Shell}).
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
978
46912
487968d71def Explain how C-x RET f and C-x RET c affect saving.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46236
diff changeset
979 If the immediately following command does not use the coding system,
487968d71def Explain how C-x RET f and C-x RET c affect saving.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46236
diff changeset
980 then @kbd{C-x @key{RET} c} ultimately has no effect.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
981
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
982 An easy way to visit a file with no conversion is with the @kbd{M-x
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
983 find-file-literally} command. @xref{Visiting}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
984
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
985 @vindex default-buffer-file-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
986 The variable @code{default-buffer-file-coding-system} specifies the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
987 choice of coding system to use when you create a new file. It applies
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
988 when you find a new file, and when you create a buffer and then save it
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
989 in a file. Selecting a language environment typically sets this
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
990 variable to a good choice of default coding system for that language
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
991 environment.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
992
60800
06251e15fd5e (Input Methods): Leim is now built-in.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 59796
diff changeset
993 @kindex C-x RET r
06251e15fd5e (Input Methods): Leim is now built-in.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 59796
diff changeset
994 @findex revert-buffer-with-coding-system
06251e15fd5e (Input Methods): Leim is now built-in.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 59796
diff changeset
995 If you visit a file with a wrong coding system, you can correct this
06251e15fd5e (Input Methods): Leim is now built-in.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 59796
diff changeset
996 with @kbd{C-x @key{RET} r} (@code{revert-buffer-with-coding-system}).
06251e15fd5e (Input Methods): Leim is now built-in.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 59796
diff changeset
997 This visits the current file again, using a coding system you specify.
06251e15fd5e (Input Methods): Leim is now built-in.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 59796
diff changeset
998
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
999 @kindex C-x RET t
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1000 @findex set-terminal-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1001 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} t} (@code{set-terminal-coding-system})
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1002 specifies the coding system for terminal output. If you specify a
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1003 character code for terminal output, all characters output to the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1004 terminal are translated into that coding system.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1005
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1006 This feature is useful for certain character-only terminals built to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1007 support specific languages or character sets---for example, European
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1008 terminals that support one of the ISO Latin character sets. You need to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1009 specify the terminal coding system when using multibyte text, so that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1010 Emacs knows which characters the terminal can actually handle.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1011
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1012 By default, output to the terminal is not translated at all, unless
33745
78ec4a7ba765 (Undisplayable Characters): New node.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 32386
diff changeset
1013 Emacs can deduce the proper coding system from your terminal type or
78ec4a7ba765 (Undisplayable Characters): New node.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 32386
diff changeset
1014 your locale specification (@pxref{Language Environments}).
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1015
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1016 @kindex C-x RET k
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1017 @findex set-keyboard-coding-system
34691
a80251dea213 keyboard-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 33745
diff changeset
1018 @vindex keyboard-coding-system
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1019 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} k} (@code{set-keyboard-coding-system})
59796
48aa868cde0b Don't say just "option" when talking about variables.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 58624
diff changeset
1020 or the variable @code{keyboard-coding-system} specifies the coding
48aa868cde0b Don't say just "option" when talking about variables.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 58624
diff changeset
1021 system for keyboard input. Character-code translation of keyboard
48aa868cde0b Don't say just "option" when talking about variables.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 58624
diff changeset
1022 input is useful for terminals with keys that send non-@acronym{ASCII}
48aa868cde0b Don't say just "option" when talking about variables.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 58624
diff changeset
1023 graphic characters---for example, some terminals designed for ISO
48aa868cde0b Don't say just "option" when talking about variables.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 58624
diff changeset
1024 Latin-1 or subsets of it.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1025
46236
b3a9c5fdc73a keyboard-coding-system is initialized from the locale.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46204
diff changeset
1026 By default, keyboard input is translated based on your system locale
b3a9c5fdc73a keyboard-coding-system is initialized from the locale.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46204
diff changeset
1027 setting. If your terminal does not really support the encoding
b3a9c5fdc73a keyboard-coding-system is initialized from the locale.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46204
diff changeset
1028 implied by your locale (for example, if you find it inserts a
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
1029 non-@acronym{ASCII} character if you type @kbd{M-i}), you will need to set
46236
b3a9c5fdc73a keyboard-coding-system is initialized from the locale.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46204
diff changeset
1030 @code{keyboard-coding-system} to @code{nil} to turn off encoding.
b3a9c5fdc73a keyboard-coding-system is initialized from the locale.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46204
diff changeset
1031 You can do this by putting
b3a9c5fdc73a keyboard-coding-system is initialized from the locale.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46204
diff changeset
1032
b3a9c5fdc73a keyboard-coding-system is initialized from the locale.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46204
diff changeset
1033 @lisp
b3a9c5fdc73a keyboard-coding-system is initialized from the locale.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46204
diff changeset
1034 (set-keyboard-coding-system nil)
b3a9c5fdc73a keyboard-coding-system is initialized from the locale.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46204
diff changeset
1035 @end lisp
b3a9c5fdc73a keyboard-coding-system is initialized from the locale.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46204
diff changeset
1036
b3a9c5fdc73a keyboard-coding-system is initialized from the locale.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46204
diff changeset
1037 @noindent
b3a9c5fdc73a keyboard-coding-system is initialized from the locale.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 46204
diff changeset
1038 in your @file{~/.emacs} file.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1039
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1040 There is a similarity between using a coding system translation for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1041 keyboard input, and using an input method: both define sequences of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1042 keyboard input that translate into single characters. However, input
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1043 methods are designed to be convenient for interactive use by humans, and
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
1044 the sequences that are translated are typically sequences of @acronym{ASCII}
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1045 printing characters. Coding systems typically translate sequences of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1046 non-graphic characters.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1047
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1048 @kindex C-x RET x
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1049 @kindex C-x RET X
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1050 @findex set-selection-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1051 @findex set-next-selection-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1052 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} x} (@code{set-selection-coding-system})
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1053 specifies the coding system for sending selected text to the window
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1054 system, and for receiving the text of selections made in other
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1055 applications. This command applies to all subsequent selections, until
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1056 you override it by using the command again. The command @kbd{C-x
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1057 @key{RET} X} (@code{set-next-selection-coding-system}) specifies the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1058 coding system for the next selection made in Emacs or read by Emacs.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1059
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1060 @kindex C-x RET p
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1061 @findex set-buffer-process-coding-system
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1062 The command @kbd{C-x @key{RET} p} (@code{set-buffer-process-coding-system})
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1063 specifies the coding system for input and output to a subprocess. This
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1064 command applies to the current buffer; normally, each subprocess has its
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1065 own buffer, and thus you can use this command to specify translation to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1066 and from a particular subprocess by giving the command in the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1067 corresponding buffer.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1068
29826
05c0499d035a (set-buffer-process-coding-system): Documentation fixed.
Kenichi Handa <handa@m17n.org>
parents: 29107
diff changeset
1069 The default for translation of process input and output depends on the
05c0499d035a (set-buffer-process-coding-system): Documentation fixed.
Kenichi Handa <handa@m17n.org>
parents: 29107
diff changeset
1070 current language environment.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1071
61052
f49b6692433d (Specify Coding): Document recode-region and recode-file-name.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60884
diff changeset
1072 @findex recode-region
f49b6692433d (Specify Coding): Document recode-region and recode-file-name.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60884
diff changeset
1073 If a piece of text has already been inserted into a buffer using the
f49b6692433d (Specify Coding): Document recode-region and recode-file-name.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60884
diff changeset
1074 wrong coding system, you can decode it again using @kbd{M-x
f49b6692433d (Specify Coding): Document recode-region and recode-file-name.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60884
diff changeset
1075 recode-region}. This prompts you for the old coding system and the
f49b6692433d (Specify Coding): Document recode-region and recode-file-name.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60884
diff changeset
1076 desired coding system, and acts on the text in the region.
f49b6692433d (Specify Coding): Document recode-region and recode-file-name.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60884
diff changeset
1077
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1078 @vindex file-name-coding-system
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
1079 @cindex file names with non-@acronym{ASCII} characters
54271
7232ffdd33dd (Specify Coding): Doc C-x RET F.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 52979
diff changeset
1080 @findex set-file-name-coding-system
7232ffdd33dd (Specify Coding): Doc C-x RET F.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 52979
diff changeset
1081 @kindex C-x @key{RET} F
7232ffdd33dd (Specify Coding): Doc C-x RET F.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 52979
diff changeset
1082 The variable @code{file-name-coding-system} specifies a coding
7232ffdd33dd (Specify Coding): Doc C-x RET F.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 52979
diff changeset
1083 system to use for encoding file names. If you set the variable to a
7232ffdd33dd (Specify Coding): Doc C-x RET F.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 52979
diff changeset
1084 coding system name (as a Lisp symbol or a string), Emacs encodes file
7232ffdd33dd (Specify Coding): Doc C-x RET F.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 52979
diff changeset
1085 names using that coding system for all file operations. This makes it
7232ffdd33dd (Specify Coding): Doc C-x RET F.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 52979
diff changeset
1086 possible to use non-@acronym{ASCII} characters in file names---or, at
7232ffdd33dd (Specify Coding): Doc C-x RET F.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 52979
diff changeset
1087 least, those non-@acronym{ASCII} characters which the specified coding
7232ffdd33dd (Specify Coding): Doc C-x RET F.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 52979
diff changeset
1088 system can encode. Use @kbd{C-x @key{RET} F}
7232ffdd33dd (Specify Coding): Doc C-x RET F.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 52979
diff changeset
1089 (@code{set-file-name-coding-system}) to specify this interactively.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1090
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1091 If @code{file-name-coding-system} is @code{nil}, Emacs uses a default
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1092 coding system determined by the selected language environment. In the
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
1093 default language environment, any non-@acronym{ASCII} characters in file names are
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1094 not encoded specially; they appear in the file system using the internal
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1095 Emacs representation.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1096
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1097 @strong{Warning:} if you change @code{file-name-coding-system} (or the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1098 language environment) in the middle of an Emacs session, problems can
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1099 result if you have already visited files whose names were encoded using
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1100 the earlier coding system and cannot be encoded (or are encoded
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1101 differently) under the new coding system. If you try to save one of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1102 these buffers under the visited file name, saving may use the wrong file
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1103 name, or it may get an error. If such a problem happens, use @kbd{C-x
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1104 C-w} to specify a new file name for that buffer.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1105
61052
f49b6692433d (Specify Coding): Document recode-region and recode-file-name.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60884
diff changeset
1106 @findex recode-file-name
f49b6692433d (Specify Coding): Document recode-region and recode-file-name.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60884
diff changeset
1107 If a mistake occurs when encoding a file name, use the command
f49b6692433d (Specify Coding): Document recode-region and recode-file-name.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60884
diff changeset
1108 command @kbd{M-x recode-file-name} to change the file name's coding
f49b6692433d (Specify Coding): Document recode-region and recode-file-name.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60884
diff changeset
1109 system. This prompts for an existing file name, its old coding
f49b6692433d (Specify Coding): Document recode-region and recode-file-name.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60884
diff changeset
1110 system, and the coding system to which you wish to convert.
f49b6692433d (Specify Coding): Document recode-region and recode-file-name.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60884
diff changeset
1111
26140
068f7ad41d40 Describe new functions and variables for locales.
Paul Eggert <eggert@twinsun.com>
parents: 25829
diff changeset
1112 @vindex locale-coding-system
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
1113 @cindex decoding non-@acronym{ASCII} keyboard input on X
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1114 The variable @code{locale-coding-system} specifies a coding system
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1115 to use when encoding and decoding system strings such as system error
43633
2c255d245320 (International, Language Environments, Specify Coding): Make it clear
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 43439
diff changeset
1116 messages and @code{format-time-string} formats and time stamps. That
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
1117 coding system is also used for decoding non-@acronym{ASCII} keyboard input on X
43633
2c255d245320 (International, Language Environments, Specify Coding): Make it clear
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 43439
diff changeset
1118 Window systems. You should choose a coding system that is compatible
2c255d245320 (International, Language Environments, Specify Coding): Make it clear
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 43439
diff changeset
1119 with the underlying system's text representation, which is normally
2c255d245320 (International, Language Environments, Specify Coding): Make it clear
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 43439
diff changeset
1120 specified by one of the environment variables @env{LC_ALL},
2c255d245320 (International, Language Environments, Specify Coding): Make it clear
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 43439
diff changeset
1121 @env{LC_CTYPE}, and @env{LANG}. (The first one, in the order
2c255d245320 (International, Language Environments, Specify Coding): Make it clear
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 43439
diff changeset
1122 specified above, whose value is nonempty is the one that determines
2c255d245320 (International, Language Environments, Specify Coding): Make it clear
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 43439
diff changeset
1123 the text representation.)
26140
068f7ad41d40 Describe new functions and variables for locales.
Paul Eggert <eggert@twinsun.com>
parents: 25829
diff changeset
1124
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1125 @node Fontsets
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1126 @section Fontsets
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1127 @cindex fontsets
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1128
38460
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
1129 A font for X typically defines shapes for a single alphabet or script.
35188
94d46968a93f Don't say "X Windows". From Colin Walters <walters@cis.ohio-state.edu>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35163
diff changeset
1130 Therefore, displaying the entire range of scripts that Emacs supports
94d46968a93f Don't say "X Windows". From Colin Walters <walters@cis.ohio-state.edu>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35163
diff changeset
1131 requires a collection of many fonts. In Emacs, such a collection is
94d46968a93f Don't say "X Windows". From Colin Walters <walters@cis.ohio-state.edu>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35163
diff changeset
1132 called a @dfn{fontset}. A fontset is defined by a list of fonts, each
94d46968a93f Don't say "X Windows". From Colin Walters <walters@cis.ohio-state.edu>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 35163
diff changeset
1133 assigned to handle a range of character codes.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1134
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1135 Each fontset has a name, like a font. The available X fonts are
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1136 defined by the X server; fontsets, however, are defined within Emacs
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1137 itself. Once you have defined a fontset, you can use it within Emacs by
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1138 specifying its name, anywhere that you could use a single font. Of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1139 course, Emacs fontsets can use only the fonts that the X server
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1140 supports; if certain characters appear on the screen as hollow boxes,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1141 this means that the fontset in use for them has no font for those
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1142 characters.@footnote{The Emacs installation instructions have information on
33745
78ec4a7ba765 (Undisplayable Characters): New node.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 32386
diff changeset
1143 additional font support.}
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1144
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1145 Emacs creates two fontsets automatically: the @dfn{standard fontset}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1146 and the @dfn{startup fontset}. The standard fontset is most likely to
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
1147 have fonts for a wide variety of non-@acronym{ASCII} characters; however, this is
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1148 not the default for Emacs to use. (By default, Emacs tries to find a
38460
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
1149 font that has bold and italic variants.) You can specify use of the
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1150 standard fontset with the @samp{-fn} option, or with the @samp{Font} X
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1151 resource (@pxref{Font X}). For example,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1152
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1153 @example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1154 emacs -fn fontset-standard
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1155 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1156
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1157 A fontset does not necessarily specify a font for every character
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1158 code. If a fontset specifies no font for a certain character, or if it
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1159 specifies a font that does not exist on your system, then it cannot
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1160 display that character properly. It will display that character as an
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1161 empty box instead.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1162
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1163 @node Defining Fontsets
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1164 @section Defining fontsets
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1165
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1166 @vindex standard-fontset-spec
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1167 @cindex standard fontset
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1168 Emacs creates a standard fontset automatically according to the value
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1169 of @code{standard-fontset-spec}. This fontset's name is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1170
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1171 @example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1172 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-16-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-standard
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1173 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1174
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1175 @noindent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1176 or just @samp{fontset-standard} for short.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1177
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1178 Bold, italic, and bold-italic variants of the standard fontset are
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1179 created automatically. Their names have @samp{bold} instead of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1180 @samp{medium}, or @samp{i} instead of @samp{r}, or both.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1181
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1182 @cindex startup fontset
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
1183 If you specify a default @acronym{ASCII} font with the @samp{Font} resource or
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1184 the @samp{-fn} argument, Emacs generates a fontset from it
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1185 automatically. This is the @dfn{startup fontset} and its name is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1186 @code{fontset-startup}. It does this by replacing the @var{foundry},
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1187 @var{family}, @var{add_style}, and @var{average_width} fields of the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1188 font name with @samp{*}, replacing @var{charset_registry} field with
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1189 @samp{fontset}, and replacing @var{charset_encoding} field with
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1190 @samp{startup}, then using the resulting string to specify a fontset.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1191
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1192 For instance, if you start Emacs this way,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1193
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1194 @example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1195 emacs -fn "*courier-medium-r-normal--14-140-*-iso8859-1"
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1196 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1197
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1198 @noindent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1199 Emacs generates the following fontset and uses it for the initial X
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1200 window frame:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1201
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1202 @example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1203 -*-*-medium-r-normal-*-14-140-*-*-*-*-fontset-startup
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1204 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1205
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1206 With the X resource @samp{Emacs.Font}, you can specify a fontset name
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1207 just like an actual font name. But be careful not to specify a fontset
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1208 name in a wildcard resource like @samp{Emacs*Font}---that wildcard
38495
a898d90749ad A minor wording fix.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38490
diff changeset
1209 specification matches various other resources, such as for menus, and
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1210 menus cannot handle fontsets.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1211
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1212 You can specify additional fontsets using X resources named
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1213 @samp{Fontset-@var{n}}, where @var{n} is an integer starting from 0.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1214 The resource value should have this form:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1215
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1216 @smallexample
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1217 @var{fontpattern}, @r{[}@var{charsetname}:@var{fontname}@r{]@dots{}}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1218 @end smallexample
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1219
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1220 @noindent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1221 @var{fontpattern} should have the form of a standard X font name, except
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1222 for the last two fields. They should have the form
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1223 @samp{fontset-@var{alias}}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1224
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1225 The fontset has two names, one long and one short. The long name is
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1226 @var{fontpattern}. The short name is @samp{fontset-@var{alias}}. You
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1227 can refer to the fontset by either name.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1228
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1229 The construct @samp{@var{charset}:@var{font}} specifies which font to
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1230 use (in this fontset) for one particular character set. Here,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1231 @var{charset} is the name of a character set, and @var{font} is the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1232 font to use for that character set. You can use this construct any
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1233 number of times in defining one fontset.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1234
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1235 For the other character sets, Emacs chooses a font based on
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1236 @var{fontpattern}. It replaces @samp{fontset-@var{alias}} with values
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
1237 that describe the character set. For the @acronym{ASCII} character font,
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1238 @samp{fontset-@var{alias}} is replaced with @samp{ISO8859-1}.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1239
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1240 In addition, when several consecutive fields are wildcards, Emacs
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1241 collapses them into a single wildcard. This is to prevent use of
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1242 auto-scaled fonts. Fonts made by scaling larger fonts are not usable
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1243 for editing, and scaling a smaller font is not useful because it is
38460
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
1244 better to use the smaller font in its own size, which is what Emacs
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
1245 does.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1246
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1247 Thus if @var{fontpattern} is this,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1248
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1249 @example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1250 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-24
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1251 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1252
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1253 @noindent
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
1254 the font specification for @acronym{ASCII} characters would be this:
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1255
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1256 @example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1257 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-ISO8859-1
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1258 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1259
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1260 @noindent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1261 and the font specification for Chinese GB2312 characters would be this:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1262
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1263 @example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1264 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-gb2312*-*
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1265 @end example
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1266
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1267 You may not have any Chinese font matching the above font
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1268 specification. Most X distributions include only Chinese fonts that
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1269 have @samp{song ti} or @samp{fangsong ti} in @var{family} field. In
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1270 such a case, @samp{Fontset-@var{n}} can be specified as below:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1271
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1272 @smallexample
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1273 Emacs.Fontset-0: -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-24,\
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1274 chinese-gb2312:-*-*-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-gb2312*-*
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1275 @end smallexample
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1276
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1277 @noindent
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1278 Then, the font specifications for all but Chinese GB2312 characters have
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1279 @samp{fixed} in the @var{family} field, and the font specification for
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1280 Chinese GB2312 characters has a wild card @samp{*} in the @var{family}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1281 field.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1282
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1283 @findex create-fontset-from-fontset-spec
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1284 The function that processes the fontset resource value to create the
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1285 fontset is called @code{create-fontset-from-fontset-spec}. You can also
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1286 call this function explicitly to create a fontset.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1287
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1288 @xref{Font X}, for more information about font naming in X.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1289
33745
78ec4a7ba765 (Undisplayable Characters): New node.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 32386
diff changeset
1290 @node Undisplayable Characters
78ec4a7ba765 (Undisplayable Characters): New node.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 32386
diff changeset
1291 @section Undisplayable Characters
78ec4a7ba765 (Undisplayable Characters): New node.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 32386
diff changeset
1292
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
1293 There may be a some non-@acronym{ASCII} characters that your terminal cannot
44325
79f4beb26480 Minor cleanups.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 43909
diff changeset
1294 display. Most non-windowing terminals support just a single character
79f4beb26480 Minor cleanups.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 43909
diff changeset
1295 set (use the variable @code{default-terminal-coding-system}
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1296 (@pxref{Specify Coding}) to tell Emacs which one); characters which
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1297 can't be encoded in that coding system are displayed as @samp{?} by
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1298 default.
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1299
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1300 Windowing terminals can display a broader range of characters, but
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1301 you may not have fonts installed for all of them; characters that have
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1302 no font appear as a hollow box.
33745
78ec4a7ba765 (Undisplayable Characters): New node.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 32386
diff changeset
1303
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1304 If you use Latin-1 characters but your terminal can't display
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
1305 Latin-1, you can arrange to display mnemonic @acronym{ASCII} sequences
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1306 instead, e.g.@: @samp{"o} for o-umlaut. Load the library
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1307 @file{iso-ascii} to do this.
33745
78ec4a7ba765 (Undisplayable Characters): New node.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 32386
diff changeset
1308
36875
6a6141e694a5 *** empty log message ***
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 36850
diff changeset
1309 @vindex latin1-display
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1310 If your terminal can display Latin-1, you can display characters
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1311 from other European character sets using a mixture of equivalent
59796
48aa868cde0b Don't say just "option" when talking about variables.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 58624
diff changeset
1312 Latin-1 characters and @acronym{ASCII} mnemonics. Customize the variable
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
1313 @code{latin1-display} to enable this. The mnemonic @acronym{ASCII}
36170
0fd801cdb9fd Clarify undisplayable characters, --unibyte, locales.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 35206
diff changeset
1314 sequences mostly correspond to those of the prefix input methods.
33745
78ec4a7ba765 (Undisplayable Characters): New node.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 32386
diff changeset
1315
27211
0699f691fac1 Don't conflate single-byte with European.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27156
diff changeset
1316 @node Single-Byte Character Support
0699f691fac1 Don't conflate single-byte with European.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27156
diff changeset
1317 @section Single-byte Character Set Support
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1318
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1319 @cindex European character sets
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1320 @cindex accented characters
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1321 @cindex ISO Latin character sets
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1322 @cindex Unibyte operation
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1323 The ISO 8859 Latin-@var{n} character sets define character codes in
38460
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
1324 the range 0240 to 0377 octal (160 to 255 decimal) to handle the
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
1325 accented letters and punctuation needed by various European languages
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
1326 (and some non-European ones). If you disable multibyte characters,
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
1327 Emacs can still handle @emph{one} of these character codes at a time.
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
1328 To specify @emph{which} of these codes to use, invoke @kbd{M-x
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
1329 set-language-environment} and specify a suitable language environment
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
1330 such as @samp{Latin-@var{n}}.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1331
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1332 For more information about unibyte operation, see @ref{Enabling
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1333 Multibyte}. Note particularly that you probably want to ensure that
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
1334 your initialization files are read as unibyte if they contain non-@acronym{ASCII}
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1335 characters.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1336
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1337 @vindex unibyte-display-via-language-environment
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1338 Emacs can also display those characters, provided the terminal or font
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1339 in use supports them. This works automatically. Alternatively, if you
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1340 are using a window system, Emacs can also display single-byte characters
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1341 through fontsets, in effect by displaying the equivalent multibyte
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1342 characters according to the current language environment. To request
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1343 this, set the variable @code{unibyte-display-via-language-environment}
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1344 to a non-@code{nil} value.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1345
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1346 @cindex @code{iso-ascii} library
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1347 If your terminal does not support display of the Latin-1 character
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
1348 set, Emacs can display these characters as @acronym{ASCII} sequences which at
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1349 least give you a clear idea of what the characters are. To do this,
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1350 load the library @code{iso-ascii}. Similar libraries for other
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1351 Latin-@var{n} character sets could be implemented, but we don't have
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1352 them yet.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1353
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1354 @findex standard-display-8bit
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1355 @cindex 8-bit display
38460
6bee7ffac2cd Proofreading fixes from Chris Green <chris_e_green@yahoo.com>
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 38133
diff changeset
1356 Normally non-ISO-8859 characters (decimal codes between 128 and 159
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1357 inclusive) are displayed as octal escapes. You can change this for
36185
62cf166239f3 Change in quoting.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 36170
diff changeset
1358 non-standard ``extended'' versions of ISO-8859 character sets by using the
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1359 function @code{standard-display-8bit} in the @code{disp-table} library.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1360
60884
3d8f9fc6a5e8 (Single-Byte Character Support): Delete mention
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60800
diff changeset
1361 There are two ways to input single-byte non-@acronym{ASCII}
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1362 characters:
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1363
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1364 @itemize @bullet
27211
0699f691fac1 Don't conflate single-byte with European.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents: 27156
diff changeset
1365 @cindex 8-bit input
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1366 @item
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1367 You can use an input method for the selected language environment.
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1368 @xref{Input Methods}. When you use an input method in a unibyte buffer,
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
1369 the non-@acronym{ASCII} character you specify with it is converted to unibyte.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1370
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1371 @item
60884
3d8f9fc6a5e8 (Single-Byte Character Support): Delete mention
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60800
diff changeset
1372 If your keyboard can generate character codes 128 (decimal) and up,
3d8f9fc6a5e8 (Single-Byte Character Support): Delete mention
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60800
diff changeset
1373 representing non-@acronym{ASCII} characters, you can type those character codes
3d8f9fc6a5e8 (Single-Byte Character Support): Delete mention
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60800
diff changeset
1374 directly.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1375
60884
3d8f9fc6a5e8 (Single-Byte Character Support): Delete mention
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60800
diff changeset
1376 On a window system, you should not need to do anything special to use
3d8f9fc6a5e8 (Single-Byte Character Support): Delete mention
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60800
diff changeset
1377 these keys; they should simply work. On a text-only terminal, you
3d8f9fc6a5e8 (Single-Byte Character Support): Delete mention
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60800
diff changeset
1378 should use the command @code{M-x set-keyboard-coding-system} or the
3d8f9fc6a5e8 (Single-Byte Character Support): Delete mention
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60800
diff changeset
1379 variable @code{keyboard-coding-system} to specify which coding system
3d8f9fc6a5e8 (Single-Byte Character Support): Delete mention
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60800
diff changeset
1380 your keyboard uses (@pxref{Specify Coding}). Enabling this feature
3d8f9fc6a5e8 (Single-Byte Character Support): Delete mention
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60800
diff changeset
1381 will probably require you to use @kbd{ESC} to type Meta characters;
3d8f9fc6a5e8 (Single-Byte Character Support): Delete mention
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60800
diff changeset
1382 however, on a console terminal or in @code{xterm}, you can arrange for
3d8f9fc6a5e8 (Single-Byte Character Support): Delete mention
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60800
diff changeset
1383 Meta to be converted to @kbd{ESC} and still be able type 8-bit
3d8f9fc6a5e8 (Single-Byte Character Support): Delete mention
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60800
diff changeset
1384 characters present directly on the keyboard or using @kbd{Compose} or
3d8f9fc6a5e8 (Single-Byte Character Support): Delete mention
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 60800
diff changeset
1385 @kbd{AltGr} keys. @xref{User Input}.
61122
30ce20575d8b (Single-Byte Character Support): Reinstall the C-x 8 info.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61097
diff changeset
1386
30ce20575d8b (Single-Byte Character Support): Reinstall the C-x 8 info.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61097
diff changeset
1387 @kindex C-x 8
30ce20575d8b (Single-Byte Character Support): Reinstall the C-x 8 info.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61097
diff changeset
1388 @cindex @code{iso-transl} library
30ce20575d8b (Single-Byte Character Support): Reinstall the C-x 8 info.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61097
diff changeset
1389 @cindex compose character
30ce20575d8b (Single-Byte Character Support): Reinstall the C-x 8 info.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61097
diff changeset
1390 @cindex dead character
30ce20575d8b (Single-Byte Character Support): Reinstall the C-x 8 info.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61097
diff changeset
1391 @item
30ce20575d8b (Single-Byte Character Support): Reinstall the C-x 8 info.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61097
diff changeset
1392 For Latin-1 only, you can use the key @kbd{C-x 8} as a ``compose
30ce20575d8b (Single-Byte Character Support): Reinstall the C-x 8 info.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61097
diff changeset
1393 character'' prefix for entry of non-@acronym{ASCII} Latin-1 printing
30ce20575d8b (Single-Byte Character Support): Reinstall the C-x 8 info.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61097
diff changeset
1394 characters. @kbd{C-x 8} is good for insertion (in the minibuffer as
30ce20575d8b (Single-Byte Character Support): Reinstall the C-x 8 info.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61097
diff changeset
1395 well as other buffers), for searching, and in any other context where
30ce20575d8b (Single-Byte Character Support): Reinstall the C-x 8 info.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61097
diff changeset
1396 a key sequence is allowed.
30ce20575d8b (Single-Byte Character Support): Reinstall the C-x 8 info.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61097
diff changeset
1397
30ce20575d8b (Single-Byte Character Support): Reinstall the C-x 8 info.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61097
diff changeset
1398 @kbd{C-x 8} works by loading the @code{iso-transl} library. Once that
30ce20575d8b (Single-Byte Character Support): Reinstall the C-x 8 info.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61097
diff changeset
1399 library is loaded, the @key{ALT} modifier key, if the keyboard has
30ce20575d8b (Single-Byte Character Support): Reinstall the C-x 8 info.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61097
diff changeset
1400 one, serves the same purpose as @kbd{C-x 8}: use @key{ALT} together
30ce20575d8b (Single-Byte Character Support): Reinstall the C-x 8 info.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61097
diff changeset
1401 with an accent character to modify the following letter. In addition,
30ce20575d8b (Single-Byte Character Support): Reinstall the C-x 8 info.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61097
diff changeset
1402 if the keyboard has keys for the Latin-1 ``dead accent characters,''
30ce20575d8b (Single-Byte Character Support): Reinstall the C-x 8 info.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61097
diff changeset
1403 they too are defined to compose with the following character, once
30ce20575d8b (Single-Byte Character Support): Reinstall the C-x 8 info.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61097
diff changeset
1404 @code{iso-transl} is loaded.
30ce20575d8b (Single-Byte Character Support): Reinstall the C-x 8 info.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61097
diff changeset
1405
30ce20575d8b (Single-Byte Character Support): Reinstall the C-x 8 info.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 61097
diff changeset
1406 Use @kbd{C-x 8 C-h} to list all the available @kbd{C-x 8} translations.
25829
Dave Love <fx@gnu.org>
parents:
diff changeset
1407 @end itemize
43439
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1408
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1409 @node Charsets
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1410 @section Charsets
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1411 @cindex charsets
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1412
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1413 Emacs groups all supported characters into disjoint @dfn{charsets}.
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1414 Each character code belongs to one and only one charset. For
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1415 historical reasons, Emacs typically divides an 8-bit character code
52979
3649390c0f91 Replace @sc{ascii} and ASCII with @acronym{ASCII}.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
parents: 52401
diff changeset
1416 for an extended version of @acronym{ASCII} into two charsets: @acronym{ASCII}, which
43439
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1417 covers the codes 0 through 127, plus another charset which covers the
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1418 ``right-hand part'' (the codes 128 and up). For instance, the
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1419 characters of Latin-1 include the Emacs charset @code{ascii} plus the
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1420 Emacs charset @code{latin-iso8859-1}.
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1421
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1422 Emacs characters belonging to different charsets may look the same,
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1423 but they are still different characters. For example, the letter
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1424 @samp{o} with acute accent in charset @code{latin-iso8859-1}, used for
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1425 Latin-1, is different from the letter @samp{o} with acute accent in
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1426 charset @code{latin-iso8859-2}, used for Latin-2.
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1427
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1428 @findex list-charset-chars
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1429 @cindex characters in a certain charset
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1430 @findex describe-character-set
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1431 There are two commands for obtaining information about Emacs
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1432 charsets. The command @kbd{M-x list-charset-chars} prompts for a name
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1433 of a character set, and displays all the characters in that character
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1434 set. The command @kbd{M-x describe-character-set} prompts for a
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1435 charset name and displays information about that charset, including
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1436 its internal representation within Emacs.
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1437
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1438 To find out which charset a character in the buffer belongs to,
dffc7bf6189c New node Charsets.
Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
parents: 42598
diff changeset
1439 put point before it and type @kbd{C-u C-x =}.
52401
695cf19ef79e Add arch taglines
Miles Bader <miles@gnu.org>
parents: 49600
diff changeset
1440
695cf19ef79e Add arch taglines
Miles Bader <miles@gnu.org>
parents: 49600
diff changeset
1441 @ignore
695cf19ef79e Add arch taglines
Miles Bader <miles@gnu.org>
parents: 49600
diff changeset
1442 arch-tag: 310ba60d-31ef-4ce7-91f1-f282dd57b6b3
695cf19ef79e Add arch taglines
Miles Bader <miles@gnu.org>
parents: 49600
diff changeset
1443 @end ignore